Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

This is amazing – 14 openly LGBTQ candidates in Pennsylvania were identified by the Victory Fund in yesterday’s elections. 13 of them won. Two of those candidates were from Western Pennsylvania – City Council President Bruce Kraus won reelection and Etna Borough Council candidate Jessica Semler, an openly queer woman, won her first campaign and will join that Council in January 2020.

Quite notably, Pennsylvania voters elected Tiffany Palmer, a queer attorney in Philadelphia, to the Common Pleas Court, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

For context, over 80 openly LGBTQ candidates won their races nationwide. Some returns are still not finalized so these numbers could go higher. From The Advocate:

The LGBTQ Victory Fund reports out candidates won at least 70 local elections, five legislative seats, four mayoral races, and one spot on the bench, making November 5, 2019 a historic occasion.

Winners included 46 gay men, 20 lesbians, seven bisexuals, six candidates identifying as queer, and one pansexual. There were five transgender candidates elected and one gender-nonconforming.

The chart below shows all 13 Pennsylvania winners; click here to see the entire list of 80+ candidates on the Victory Fund website.